It is well-known in the art of apparel manufacturing to cut individual garment parts or pattern pieces from a strip of fabric according to a marker which defines both the contours of the individual pattern pieces and the arrangement of the individual pattern pieces relative to one another as they are to be cut from the fabric. The marker is generated automatically by, for example, a computer aided design system, and the marker information is converted into machine command signals which direct a cutting tool along a cutting path corresponding to the contours of the pattern pieces.
Typically, successive segments of the fabric are delivered to the cutting tool by a conveyor table which has an in-feed portion for receiving the fabric from one or more supply rolls, a cutting station where successive segments of the fabrics are cut by the cutting tool according to the marker instructions, and a discharge end where the cut pattern pieces are separated from the remainder of the fabric. Such tables also typically include a vacuum system for holding the fabric or other sheet material firmly against the surface of the table during the cutting operation.
Conveyorized cutting tables are large, complicated and expensive devices widely utilized in the mass production of garments where a large number of pattern pieces must be cut within a relatively short period of time. However, in cases where one or only a few copies of a particular garment are being produced, such as in the made to order production of garments, the use of such a large and expensive conveyorized cutting table is impracticable. As used herein the term "made to order garment" means a standard-sized garment manufactured for a specific individual, a custom fitted garment manufactured for a specific individual based on the individual's physical measurements, or a garment manufactured from a prototype design. Moreover, where production is limited to one or only a few copies of a single garment, there may not be a sufficient number of individual pattern pieces to arrange them according to the marker instructions in a manner which utilizes the available fabric efficiently.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive cutting apparatus of simplified construction for use in the manufacture of made to order garments.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such an apparatus wherein pattern pieces are arranged by marker in a manner which makes efficient use of each segment of a sheet material from which the pattern pieces are cut.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a method of cutting pattern pieces for use in the made to order manufacture of garments.